"Media Ecology" is the new buzz word within educational technology. Scholars, such as Mimi Ito, argue that changes in our current media ecology have "important implications for learning" (viii). Within your group, (1) decide how to define our students' media ecology (e.g. what makes up this ecology and how do specific technologies support and enhance one another?). Then, by drawing on the readings for this week (and over the course of the semester), decide how characteristics of this media ecology redefine and/or reconstitute learning and literacy.
Media Ecology: By analyzing the environment in which people, especially kids, communicate (and play), we can study a convergence of media. This convergence exists within a mediated setting or ecology--the term ecology highlights the interdependency of communication and its back-and-forth nature--and has common characteristics: accessibility, user-generated, participatory, interactive, pervasive, both public and private audience made up of peers, family members, mentors and strangers, consumers and producers (e.g. prosumer), portability, and one device such as an iPhone or Blackberry can function as a computer and connect people to their online networks (sites such as MySpace and Facebook) and extend social interaction.
What makes up their (adolescents') ecology: cell phone, iPod (e.g. music, playlists, podcasts), email, Internet surfing, computer games, radio, television, digital camera, social network sites (e.g. youtube, facebook, flickr, etc.), IM/chat, Skype, Kindle, other software (e.g. iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Final Cut Pro, etc.), Internet searching such as Google, wikis, blogs, Twitter, etc., etc., etc.
How has literacy been (continues to be) redefined:
Literacy is a social practice and the notion of a media ecology offers a unique window into this social reliance
Literacy is considered multiple, multimodal and multifaceted
Literacy is based on multitasking
Literacy is defined and practiced differently in different contexts: school vs leisure
Literacy is constantly changing but, as educators, we work in a system that is not prone to change
How will teaching practices change:
Issues of time: project-based learning takes longer as do media productions
Technology will fail and self destruct at times: patience is needed
Learning differences need to be nurtured and appreciated
Teachers need to take risks with their own practice: if we expect students to take risks, we can do the same
Trust students: Trust that they want to learn
Relationships with students, parents, colleagues, administrators will change
Peer-based learning: peer collaboration is essential along with interest-based topics and giving students opportunities to critique and give their peers feedback on their work
Media Ecology: By analyzing the environment in which people, especially kids, communicate (and play), we can study a convergence of media. This convergence exists within a mediated setting or ecology--the term ecology highlights the interdependency of communication and its back-and-forth nature--and has common characteristics: accessibility, user-generated, participatory, interactive, pervasive, both public and private audience made up of peers, family members, mentors and strangers, consumers and producers (e.g. prosumer), portability, and one device such as an iPhone or Blackberry can function as a computer and connect people to their online networks (sites such as MySpace and Facebook) and extend social interaction.
What makes up their (adolescents') ecology: cell phone, iPod (e.g. music, playlists, podcasts), email, Internet surfing, computer games, radio, television, digital camera, social network sites (e.g. youtube, facebook, flickr, etc.), IM/chat, Skype, Kindle, other software (e.g. iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Final Cut Pro, etc.), Internet searching such as Google, wikis, blogs, Twitter, etc., etc., etc.
How has literacy been (continues to be) redefined:
How will teaching practices change: